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As with any other job, it really depends on where you are.
In some schools, the principals make all of the decisions, and are quick to point out where one is lacking in effort or skill. In other buildings, the principals facilitate decision-making by the entire body of teachers, and are quick to assist teachers when they feel like one is starting to slip or slack.
In some schools, you have a lot of dedicated parents and a lot of community involvement and volunteering. The kids are relatively well disciplined and polite (well, teenager-style polite!), and parents are quick to intercede when needed. In other schools, parents are overworked or simply don't care, and are never able to get involved and help their kids out (academically or socially). In still other cases, the parents think their kids shit gold, and *you* must be the reason that Johnny is misbehaving and stuffing erasers up his nose instead of doing his homework.
If you want to see if you like it, the best thing you can do is to try substitute teaching (if possible), and talk to as many principals and teachers as possible. (and talk to the librarians-- they often can have a "big picture" since they often get to know all of the staff members in larger schools!). Other than that, how your teaching experience goes depends on who your principal is, what your school climate is, how much support you get from your mentor teacher, and what level of freedom you're allowed to have in the classroom.
My current school is a lot less political than my previous one. I'm just a better fit for my current LMC position, and I love the support that our principal gives to the entire staff.
I'd ask your friends deep questions about what they didn't like about teaching. Was it the parents? The grading? Lesson planning? Discipline? Red tape? Lack of good peer relationship with others in the building? Those answers may tell you more about their experiences and what you might expect.
[Total side note: I trained as a high school English teacher (MA Teaching English); after a year of subbing (HS dist A&B) and reading assistant (elem school C), and two years of instructional aide tutoring (HS D), I got a one-year position at a middle school (elem dist E). I loved it, and started my library science degree. I had to leave that job, but was hired a year and a half ago at a 5-year-old middle school (large Dist F). I *love* my school, and I *love* my job as a middle school librarian, and I graduate with my library science degree (MLIS) in May. If you don't think teaching is for you, librarianship may be something to look at, though they usually prefer that librarians have a teaching background. Depends upon the district, and like teaching, you can be in a really twisted environment or a really good one...]
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